Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 68 / Tuesday, April 10, 2007 / Notices 17873 

subsistence uses of bowhead whales. As 

SOI notes in its IHA application, there 

could be an adverse impact on the 

Inupiat bowhead subsistence hunt if the 

whales were deflected seaward (further 

from shore) in the traditional hunting 

areas north of Pt. Thomson in Camden 

Bay. NMFS believes that this could 

result in whaling crews being forced to 

travel greater distances to intercept 

westward migrating whales thereby 

creating a significant safety hazard for 

whaling crews (with a potential loss of 

life), limiting chances of successfully 

striking and landing bowheads, and/or 

not landing bowheads quickly before 

decomposition and spoilage occurs. 

Prior to issuing an IHA for activities that 

take place in Arctic waters, NMFS must 

ensure that the taking by the activity 

will not have an unmitigable adverse 

impact on subsistence uses of marine 

mammals. In 50 CFR 216.103, NMFS 

has defined an ‘‘unmitigable adverse 

impact’’ to mean: 

an impact resulting from the specified 

activity: (1) That is likely to reduce the 

availability of the species to a level 

insufficient for a harvest to meet subsistence 

needs by: (i) Causing the marine mammals to 

abandon or avoid hunting areas; (ii) Directly 

displacing subsistence users; or (iii) Placing 

physical barriers between the marine 

mammals and the subsistence hunters; and 

(2) That cannot be sufficiently mitigated by 

other measures to increase the availability of 

marine mammals to allow subsistence needs 

to be met. 

While SOI states that the potential 

impact will be mitigated by the 

application of mitigation procedures 

described in its application and 

implemented by a CAA between the 

SOI, the AEWC and the whaling 

captains’ associations of Kaktovik, 

Nuiqsut and Barrow, the IHA 

application does not contain suggested 

measures to mitigate impacts on the fall 

bowhead subsistence hunt. NMFS 

presumes that SOI preferred to not make 

these measures public while it 

continued discussions with the AEWC 

and affected whaling captains (see Plan 

of Cooperation). Mitigation measures 

suggested publically include warm 

shutdown of drilling operations during 

the subsistence hunt and moving the 

drilling structures either further offshore 

or behind the barrier islands. Therefore, 

while SOI believes that the mitigation 

measures that will be implemented will 

minimize any adverse effects on whales 

and whalers, NMFS has not been 

provided an opportunity to make a 

similar determination. In its application, 

SOI states that it would provide results 

of its discussion of measures to reduce 

impacts to subsistence uses for bowhead 

whales this spring. NMFS encourages 

SOI to complete its negotiations quickly 

to ensure NMFS being able to make the 

determinations necessary under the 

MMPA within the time frames provided 

by the MMPA. 

Therefore, provided the mitigation 

measures contained in the CAA are 

agreed upon by the involved parties 

(which does not include NMFS) and 

provided publically during the public 

comment period, NMFS proposes to 

issue an IHA to SOI for conducting an 

offshore drilling program in the U.S. 

Beaufort Sea in 2007, provided the 

previously mentioned monitoring and 

reporting requirements are incorporated. 

NMFS has preliminarily determined 

that the proposed activity would result 

in the harassment of small numbers of 

marine mammals; would have no more 

than a negligible impact on the affected 

marine mammal stocks; and, subject to 

development of mitigation measures 

during discussions with interested 

parties, would not have an unmitigable 

adverse impact on the availability of 

species or stocks for subsistence uses. 

Dated: April 4, 2007. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–6753 Filed 4–9–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[I.D. 040507D] 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery 

Management Council (Council) is 

scheduling a public meeting of its Ad 

Hoc Sector Omnibus Committee 

(Committee) in April, 2007, to consider 

actions affecting New England fisheries 

in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

Recommendations from this group will 

be brought to the full Council for formal 

consideration and action, if appropriate. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Thursday, April 26, 2007, at 9:30 a.m. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Sheraton Ferncroft, 50 Ferncroft 

Road, Danvers, MA 01923; telephone: 

(978) 777–2500; fax: (978) 750–7959. 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

J. Howard, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council; 

telephone: (978) 465–0492. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Committee will continue development 

of sector programs and operational 

guidelines addressing the specific terms 

of reference issues provided by the 

Council. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may come 

before this group for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Action will 

be restricted to those issues specifically 

listed in this notice and any issues 

arising after publication of this notice 

that require emergency action under 

section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, provided the public has been 

notified of the Council’s intent to take 

final action to address the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to Paul 

J. Howard, Executive Director, at (978) 

465–0492, at least 5 days prior to the 

meeting date. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: April 5, 2007. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–6715 Filed 4–9–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[I.D. 040507C] 

North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council) Salmon 

Bycatch Workgroup will meet in 

Anchorage, AK. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Friday, April 27, 2007, from 9 a.m. to 3 

p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Anchorage Hilton, 500 West 3rd 

Avenue, Lupine Room, Anchorage, AK. 

Council address: North Pacific 

Fishery Management Council, 605 W. 


cprice-sewell on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES
17874 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 68 / Tuesday, April 10, 2007 / Notices 

4th Ave., Suite 306, Anchorage, AK 

99501–2252. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Diana Stram, Council staff, telephone: 

(907) 271–2809. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Workgroup will receive background 

information on salmon bycatch patterns, 

stock of origin information and 

methodology for establishment of 

previous catch limits for salmon species 

in the Bering Sea Aleutian Island trawl 

fisheries. Plans for development of 

Workgroup recommendations for 

options of catch limits (hard caps and 

trigger caps) by species during the May 

Workgroup meeting. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may come 

before this group for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Action will 

be restricted to those issues specifically 

identified in this notice and any issues 

arising after publication of this notice 

that require emergency action under 

section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act, provided the public has been 

notified of the Council’s intent to take 

final action to address the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to Gail Bendixen at 

(907) 271–2809 at least 7 working days 

prior to the meeting date. 

Dated: April 5, 2007. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–6714 Filed 4–9–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[I.D. 040507E] 

Fisheries of the South Atlantic; South 

Atlantic Fishery Management Council; 

Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council will hold a 

meeting of its Rock Shrimp Advisory 

Panel and Golden Crab Advisory Panel, 

in Charleston, SC. 

DATES: The meetings will take place 

May 1–3, 2007. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for specific dates and 

times. 

ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held at 

the Town and Country Inn, 2008 

Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 

29407; telephone: (800) 334–6660 or 

(843) 571–1000; fax: (843) 766–9444. 

Council address: South Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council, 4055 

Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North 

Charleston, SC 29405. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim 

Iverson, Public Information Officer; 

telephone: (843) 571–4366 or toll free 

(866) SAFMC–10; fax: (843) 769–4520; 

email: kim.iverson@safmc.net. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Members 

of the Rock Shrimp Advisory Panel will 

meet from 1:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. on May 1, 

2007, and from 8:30 a.m. - 12 noon on 

May 2, 2007. 

The Rock Shrimp Advisory Panel will 

meet jointly with the Golden Crab 

Advisory Panel from 1:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. 

on May 2, 2007. The Golden Crab 

Advisory Panel will meet from 8:30 a.m. 

- 5 p.m. on May 3, 2007. 

Both the Rock Shrimp and Golden 

Crab Advisory Panels (APs) will receive 

the following presentations: (1) an 

overview of the Council’s Fishery 

Ecosystem Plan (FEP), (2) deepwater 

coral habitats in the South Atlantic 

Region, and (3) Vessel Monitoring 

Systems and electronic logbooks 

currently in use by the Gulf of Mexico 

shrimp fishery. Following the 

presentations, advisory panel members 

will discuss and provide 

recommendations on the development 

of allowable gear zones and 

designations of deepwater coral areas as 

Habitat Areas of Particular Concern 

(HAPCs) as alternatives to be included 

in the Council’s Comprehensive 

Amendment to the FEP. The Rock 

Shrimp AP and Golden Crab AP will 

meet jointly to discuss common fishing 

areas. 

In addition, the Rock Shrimp AP will 

provide recommendations regarding the 

current ‘‘Use it or Lose it’’ provision for 

the rock shrimp fishery. The provision, 

created as part of a limited access 

program for the rock shrimp fishery 

through Amendment 5 to the Shrimp 

Fishery management Plan (FMP) for the 

South Atlantic Region, states that if a 

limited access rock shrimp permit is 

‘‘not active’’ during a 48 month period 

(4 calendar years) it will not be renewed 

and criteria will be applied to put the 

permit back in the limited access rock 

shrimp fishery. A rock shrimp limited 

access permit is defined as inactive 

when the vessel it is attached to has less 

than 15,000 pounds of documented rock 

shrimp harvest from the exclusive 

economic zone (EEZ) within the South 

Atlantic Council’s area of jurisdiction in 

a calendar year. The Rock Shrimp AP 

will also provide a description of the 

rock shrimp fishery and the royal red 

shrimp fishery for inclusion in the FEP. 

The Golden Crab AP will provide a 

description of the golden crab fishery 

for the FEP as well. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may come 

before these groups for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during these meetings. Action 

will be restricted to those issues 

specifically identified in this notice and 

any issues arising after publication of 

this notice that require emergency 

action under section 305(c) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 

provided the public has been notified of 

the Council’s intent to take final action 

to address the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for‘ auxiliary aids should be 

directed to the council office (see 

ADDRESSES) 3 days prior to the 

meetings.Note: The times and sequence 

specified in this agenda are subject to 

change. 

Dated: April 5, 2007. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–6716 Filed 4–9–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[I.D.040407A] 

Marine Mammals; File No. 984–1814–01 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit 

amendment. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Dr. 

Terrie Williams, Department of Ecology 

and Evolutionary Biology, Center for 

Ocean Health - Long Marine Laboratory, 

University of California, 100 Shaffer 

Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060 has been 

issued an amendment to scientific 

research Permit No. 984–1814. 

ADDRESSES: The amendment and related 

documents are available for review 


cprice-sewell on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES